


Once in a Lifetime

by welcomefellowmisfits



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, F/F, Fluff and Angst, LaFerry - Freeform, Zeta Society - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-06
Updated: 2015-06-07
Packaged: 2018-03-16 14:42:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3492203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/welcomefellowmisfits/pseuds/welcomefellowmisfits
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laura Hollis is in her senior year at Silas University and getting ready to graduate in a month. Her girlfriend Carmilla is an artist and art teacher at the local elementary school. Carmilla loves her already established life in Philadelphia. When Laura receives a job offer from her dream job in her dream city she must decided whether to accept and move to Boston without Carmilla or stay in Philadelphia. Laura must choose between the career and life she has always imagined herself to have - or stay behind and start a life with Carmilla</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Laura gets some big news and hollestein spend their anniversary together.

Laura is in her dorm room getting ready for her class that begins at 12:00pm. Human Geography is definitely not one of her favorite classes but it fulfills one of her last requirements so she needs to do well in it if she plans on graduating next month, which is something Laura has all intentions of doing. She is in the middle of brushing her teeth when she hears her iphone ringing on her bed. Quickly, Laura spits the toothpaste out of her mouth and into the sink before running out of the bathroom and into her bedroom to pick up her cell phone. Laura does not recognize the number but she does recognize the area code to be of one from Boston. Laura quickly answers the phone and says “Hello?”

“Hi, yes may I please speak to Laura Hollis?” the man on the other end of the line says.

“She’s speaking” Laura quickly answers. She is still confused by who the man is and why they may be calling her.

“Ah, yes, hello Ms. Hollis, this is Dave Johnson from The Boston Globe speaking. You sent us your resume a few weeks ago-.”

Laura is stunned. She never told anyone she applied for a position at the Boston Globe because she didn’t think they would actually hire her. And now some man from there is calling her and everything seems unreal.

The man continues to speak while Laura attempts get her thoughts straight. “Anyway we are very impressed with your resume, especially with all the work you have done with your universities newspaper. We think you’re exactly the type of new blood the Boston Globe desperately needs. If all goes as planned and you graduate this May we would like to offer you a position here at the Boston Globe.”

If Laura was stunned earlier she is downright dumbfounded right now. Laura sits down because she thinks if she stands any longer she is surely going to faint.

“Hello? Ms. Hollis are you still there?” Dave asks through the telephone.

Laura has trouble finding her words but is finally able to reply. “Yes! Sorry, I’m just a little shocked that is all. I’ve always dreamed about working for you guys and it would be an amazing honor. Like. A super great honor, I’m honestly just trying to process everything, I mean this is surely a big deal and-” Laura can’t stop herself from rambling. This always happens to her especially when she is nervous. She decides she needs to cut herself off before she ruins any chance of acquiring this position.

“Is it ok if I have some time to think about it?” Laura asks Dave realizing she shouldn’t jump to a decision so quickly, especially with something as serious as this. She definitely wants to talk to her father about this. He always tells her the right thing to do.

“Of course that’s no problem at all Ms. Hollis. We understand the type of decision this is for a soon to be college graduate. We’ll be in touch. How about you give us a final answer in 3 weeks.”

“Yes! Thank you so much Mr. Johnson. I will definitely be in touch with you.”

They both say their goodbyes and Laura hangs up her cell phone. Laura stays sitting on her bed for a few minutes trying to understand everything that just happened. “Holy crap. I can’t believe I got a job at the Boston Globe” Laura thinks to herself. And then it hits Laura. Having a job at the Boston Globe means she will have to live in Boston. Which means she will have to leave Philadelphia where she currently lives and where her girlfriend Carmilla lives? Everything suddenly feels very confusing and heavy. Not to mention when Laura looks over at the alarm clock on her desk she realizes she has 10 minutes to leave so she can get to class on time. All of these thoughts are going to have to wait till later.

\------------  
Laura meets with Lafontaine for lunch at the Food Court on lower campus like they always do on Tuesdays. Lafontaine graduated, like all of her other friends Carmilla, Perry, Kirsch, and Danny last year. Well technically Danny graduated 2 years ago but the point is it’s nice to be able to still hang out with some of her friends on campus. Laura has a month left before graduating from Silas University. Thankfully, Lafontaine is earning her Master’s Degree from Silas, so they are still able to meet up some days. Lafontaine is going on and on about something they just learned from one of their biology lectures when they stop and start staring at Laura.

“Hey L, everything ok?” Lafontaine asks with a mouth full of their tuna sandwich and looking at Laura very confused.

Laura snaps out of her daydream and focuses back on Lafontaine. “Yeah, sorry about that, what were you saying?”

“I was talking about the lecture I just had today, and you weren’t even pretending to be interested, like you do anytime I talk about this stuff. What’s on your mind?”

Laura didn’t want to tell anyone about her phone call with the Boston Globe before she had a chance to speak with her dad and Carmilla but this is something too big to just keep in and Lafontaine has been her best friend since she was a freshman when they were her unofficial Resident Assistant. Perry technically was her RA but Lafontaine was always around and was just as helpful so they might as well have been hired as an RA. Laura knew she would be able to confide in Lafontaine.

“Ok, well I got a crazy phone call earlier and if I tell you have to promise not to tell anyone, got it?”

“Yeah of course. I mean Laura if you need help disposing of a body this is definitely something better suited for Carmilla but I mean I’ll help as best as I could.”

“Shut up.” Laura says after laughing at one of Lafontaine’s ridiculous jokes.

“Well what is it?” Lafontaine asks curiously

“The Boston Globe called me today. They offered me a job after graduation. How crazy is that?!”

“Dude! I’m so happy for you, jeez! You’re getting them big girl jobs without even having to leave the state!”

Laura laughs again. “I know, but I don't know what to do. I love Boston, I always have, but being here at Silas and meeting all of you guys, and Carmilla of course, I don't know if I want to leave everything just yet.”

“Well you know L, no one should ever hold you back from your dreams, ya know? You deserve that kickass job.”

“I know but it just seems so much more complicated” Laura leans her head against her hand that is upright on the table and sighs. She drinks her grape soda slowly from her straw trying to hide the frown that is attempting its way onto her face.

“Well whatever you do, I’ll support you L, always” Lafontaine says to Laura with such a genuine smile that Laura can’t help but smile back at them. “When are you going to talk to Carmilla?” Lafontaine asks with a little bit of hesitation.

Laura hasn't really given much thought about that. Today was their 3rd year anniversary and Carmilla planned on taking them out for an amazing date. Laura didn’t want to ruin their date with talk about the future especially because she knows that type of stuff bothers Carmilla. Carmilla doesn’t like to dwell too much on the past or future, saying it’s much better to live in the present and take everything day to day. It is one of the things Laura loves most about Carmilla. Laura tries to plan too much and focus on particular things that eventually upset her. Carmilla however is carefree and doesn’t let too many things bother her.

“Um well definitely not tonight, right? I don’t want to mess up our anniversary with talks about our future.” Laura says to Lafontaine but there’s something in her tone that Lafontaine can tell Laura is trying to ask them if it’s the right or wrong decision.

“Yeah, I guess that’s valid. But don't wait too long, frosh”

“I’m not a freshman anymore, Laf! You can’t keep calling me that” Laura says after a small giggle.

“Well for one you’re always be frosh to me. You’re lucky I took you under my wing. God knows what sorority you would have ended up in ruining your life by nonstop partying” Lafontaine says in their dramatic voice. Laura shakes her head and laughs a little smiling at Lafontaine.

“Plus, if you keep asking for advice from me, my fee is being able to call you any nickname I want, Hollis” Lafontaine tells her before throwing a French fry in Laura’s direction and laughing.

\--------------------

Laura just got done applying her mascara when she hears a knock on her dorm room’s door. She quickly runs to go answer it and when she opens the door she see’s Carmilla on the other side, wearing her trademark ripped leather pants and black boots, but this time she paired it with a dressy all black button up. Her hair is down in her natural curls and her bangs look perfectly done (when did her hair ever not look perfect) and she was holding a singular red rose.

“Happy anniversary, sweetheart” Carmilla says before reaching over and gently kissing Laura on the lips and handing over the rose to her. Laura blushes and takes the rose from Carmilla thanking her. “Ready to go? Or are we going to have to wait another half an hour before you’re done?” Carmilla jokingly ask Laura.

“Shut up.” Laura says as she playfully pushes her girlfriend. “Everyone knows you take far longer than I do Ms. Diva.” Laura moves away from the doorway to allow Carmilla to enter her dorm room. She grabs her purse from her bed and puts the rose Carmilla gave her into an empty cup that is on her desk.

Carmilla looks around the dorm room she has seen thousands of times. Laura was lucky enough to have a single room for the past two years. Not having a roommate surely allowed them enough privacy for all their activities. Even though now that Carmilla has her own apartment that she shares with their friend Kirsch privacy isn’t exactly an issue that comes up in their relationship. Carmilla smiles at the new Doctor Who poster she bought last week for Laura that is hanging on her wall. Along the other walls were posters of various Boston sports teams and pictures of her with Laura, as well as their friends Lafontaine, Perry, Danny, and Kirsch. Many people assume that if someone is as nerdy as Laura they also wouldn’t be into sports but Laura takes that assumption and throws it out the window. Carmilla knows from firsthand experience how serious she takes her teams and isn't afraid to throw down: the proof being the many times Carmilla would have to pull Laura away from an argument whenever a Yankee fan said anything about her beloved Red Sox to her.

Of course, Laura isn’t like anyone Carmilla has ever met before. She’s so unique and so perfect and Carmilla thinks of how in love she is with this tiny ball of life she gets to call her girlfriend.

“I’m ready.” Laura says as she walks toward Carmilla from across the room and smiles at her.

“All right, after you my lady” Carmilla says as she bows and extends her arm out directing Laura out of her dorm room.

\--------------------

Carmilla made reservations for them at a restaurant in downtown. The restaurant is called One-Eleven and Laura heard how pricey it could be. It doesn’t surprise her though that Carmilla would go all out on something like their anniversary. Many people don’t get to see it but Laura knows how thoughtful Carmilla is and how she always tries her best to make someone else feel good.

“Carm, you really didn’t have to do this. I don’t mind going somewhere else” Laura says while looking at the menu and seeing that nothing is fewer than thirty dollars.

“Stop. Of course I did, cupcake. You’re the best and you deserve the best, and this is our 3rd year together. I want everything to be special”. Carmilla says while smiling at Laura before taking a sip of her wine.

Laura cannot believe how lucky she is to be able to be with Carmilla. Laura remembers when they first met back when Laura was a freshman and Carmilla was a sophomore in a photography class they both took together. Laura could have sworn Carmilla hated her when they first met but she has yet to get Carmilla to verify her theory. Laura signed up for the class because at the time she was still undeclared and wanted to take a bunch of different classes before deciding on one major. The class also had an alternative spring break attached to it which meant that they were able to travel to Costa Rica as a class and use the techniques they learned in class while taking pictures on the beautiful island. Carmilla was an Art major so she signed up more for the fact that it was a photography class and fulfilled a requirement of hers. However, the alternative spring break surely was a bonus of the class. Carmilla and Laura got paired up together to work on some projects throughout the semester and were even roommates on their trip. As the semester progressed and they spent more time together they each soon fell for one another and when they returned from Costa Rica their feelings were only that much stronger and they made their relationship official two weeks after returning from Costa Rica.

“What are you thinking about?” Carmilla asks Laura as they wait for their waiter to return to take their orders.

“Just how grateful I am that I signed up for the photography class back in freshman year.” Laura said smiling at her girlfriend.

“You know it’s still one of the best decisions I've ever made. And I definitely learned two important things on that Costa Rica trip.

“Yeah? What were they?” Laura asks her girlfriend jokingly but also still very curious as to what Carmilla will say.

“First, I learned how shitty you are at taking photographs. That class surely did not help.” Carmilla tells her girlfriend jokingly. Laura lightly kicks Carmilla’s leg under the table which makes Carmilla laugh a little more.

“The second thing is I learned how much I truly was in love with you and how I didn't want to be with anyone else, ever, and how no one on earth could ever compare to you.”

Carmilla is looking at Laura with so much love and sincerity that is feels so fulfilling and overwhelming at the exact same time. Laura feels so lucky to be with Carmilla. She has never been happier. She thinks of the love her father and mother shared before her mother passed away. She thinks that what she and Carmilla have is exactly the type of love her parents told her to find. And she found it. She found it with Carmilla.

“I love you.” Laura says smiling back at Carmilla.

“I love me too” Carmilla jokingly responds and Laura’s huffs before giving Carmilla a pout.

“I’m just playing” Carmilla says after a small laugh. “I love you too.” She says while reaching over to grab Laura’s hand.

“I, uh, got you a present” Carmilla says nervously still holding onto Laura’s hand and reaching into her pocket with her other hand. 

“Carm, you really didn't have to do that. This dinner is already amazing enough.”

“Just- here” Carmilla says while she hands over a blue jewelry box to Laura. The box is too big to be a ring or earrings and Laura is too curious to see what it is to fight Carmilla on it anymore. 

When Laura opens the box she see’s a beautiful silver heart shaped necklace that has a solid silver heart shaped plaque attached to it with writing on it. Laura cannot believe her eyes and is left speechless. It surely is the most beautiful necklace she has ever been given. When Laura looks closely at the necklace she notices there is an inscription engraved on it: I have been in love with no one, and never shall, unless it should be with you

Laura feels so overwhelmed and happy at the exact same time. A few tears make their way down her face and she quickly goes to wipe them away. Laura looks up at Carmilla who is looking at her with such a bright smile. A smile Laura knows is only reserved for her. 

“Do you like it, cupcake?”

“I love it, Carm. More than anything. Put it on me?”

Carmilla gets up from her chair at the table and walks over to Laura. Laura hands over the necklace and pushes her hair to one side of her neck. Carmilla moves behind Laura and clasp the necklace around her neck, where it falls perfectly onto Laura's chest, just above her breasts.

Laura looks up at Carmilla from her seat smiling at her. “I love you so much.”

Carmilla leans down and gently kisses her girlfriend on the lips. When she pulls away she leans their foreheads together and whispers “I love you too, sweetheart.”

\---------------------------

After dinner Carmilla took Laura to the park where they laid down on a blanket looking up at the stars. When it seemed to be getting late they decided to head back to Carmilla’s apartment seeing as she still has work the next morning at the elementary school as an art teacher. After they made love that night and were cuddled up into each other Laura could not stop herself from thinking of how in love she was with Carmilla. But then the conversation from earlier crept inside her head as well. She still needed to decide what she is going to do. Stay in Philadelphia with Carmilla after graduation or ask Carmilla to move to Boston with her. It was the love of her life versus her dream job in her dream city. Laura hoped with everything in her that it will all work out. But learning from past experiences she knew not everything in this world had a happy ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! This is my first time writing fanfic. Hope you all enjoy and im open to some constructive criticism! Let me know what you think. 
> 
> I wanted Laura to have a real life dilemma through this fanfic and not just "i love carmilla so much im gonna drop everything and just be with her no matter what" cause personally i dont think thats right or healthy. 
> 
> Anyway, you can follow me at welcomefellowmisfits.tumblr.com and ask me any questions about it or see the post i may post about it. anything!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The gang celebrate Danny's birthday and the thing Laura has been wanting to talk with Carmilla about finally gets brought up.

Laura has her weekly school newspaper meetings on Tuesday’s right after she finishes eating lunch with Lafontaine. It’s April 11th which means she needs everything finalized and edited by Thursday so the paper can be sent to print and ready for Friday. Laura first joined the Silas Source back when she was a sophomore right after she officially declared communications her major (with a concentration in journalism of course.) Now in her senior year at Silas, Laura has worked her way up to be the Editor of the universities newspaper which is something she truly enjoys but definitely adds a lot more stress to her week. She hasn’t been able to talk to Carmilla about the job offer she received from the Boston Globe and that has only added to her long list of things to stress over. Not telling Carmilla something as big as this is really bothering Laura but there hasn’t been a good time to bring it up and it’s not something she wants to talk about over the phone. Last Tuesday was their anniversary and she didn't want to ruin that. Then Friday was their weekly stay at home eat take out and watch movies night and she really didn't want to bring it up then because Carmilla was really stressed over something that happened at work and just wanted to relax and cuddle with her on the couch. Then before she knew it the weekend was over and their weeks started up and she has yet to see Carmilla. She decides she has waited far too long and really needs to tell Carmilla already. Somehow Laura feels really guilty, like if she is somehow lying to Carmilla, which she has never done before. Whatever the feeling is she wants it to leave so she decides she is going to talk about this with Carmilla tonight after they go out to dinner with Danny, Kirsch, Lafontaine, and Perry to celebrate Danny’s birthday.

“Hey Laura, everything going ok?” Jim Sullivan the advisor to the Silas Source asks her.

Laura hasn’t noticed that she has been blankly staring out the window while sitting in the newspapers office alone playing with the necklace Carmilla bought her.

“Yeah, sorry, everything’s fine, just didn’t realize I spaced off there” Laura quickly answers while she tries to straighten the ton of papers sitting at her desk.

“You seemed pretty preoccupied during our meeting. If there’s anything I can do just let me know.”

Laura hesitates for a second before deciding to just ask his opinion anyway. I mean, he is her advisor, so it’s basically his job to give her advice. And it’s probably not a bad idea to have a professional opinion before having this discussion with Carmilla.

“Actually Jim there’s one thing I’d like to talk to you about, if that’s ok?”

“Of course. Shoot” Jim says as he pulls up a chair closer to Laura’s desk and sits down.

“Ok so I applied to this open position at the Boston Globe a few weeks ago and I totally didn’t think I would get it because I have like zero experience besides working on the Silas Source, but anyway last week I got a call from a guy who works at the Boston Globe and they offered me a position after I graduate! Like how amazing is that! I’ve always dreamed about working there and now it might actually happen and it’s all just really exciting.” Everything kind of just falls out of Laura's mouth without a real filter.

“Laura, I’m so proud of you. That is an amazing opportunity! But, what’s the problem?”

Laura feels a little nervous now that she brought it up. “Is it weird to talk about relationships to your advisor?” Laura thinks to herself.

“Well, uh, you see, I’ve been dating my girlfriend for 3 years now and I’m not sure how to bring it up cause this totally will affect our relationship.”

Jim stares at Laura for awhile and she can tell that he’s trying to choose the right words to say. Finally after a few long and awkward seconds he finally says “Well I can’t really tell you what to do or what not to do but one thing that I have learned in life is to never sacrifice your own future for someone else.”

Laura hears what Jim is saying and she totally agrees. A person’s career is one of the most important things in their life and they should never sacrifice or jeopardize it for just anyone. But Carmilla isn’t just anyone. She’s the love of Laura’s life and she can’t imagine life without her. But on the other hand Laura may never get an opportunity like this again. This job can open so many doors for her future and it is something she has dreamed so long about, ever since she was a little kid.

“I have faith you will make the right decision, Laura. And remember don’t worry about anyone else. Do what makes you happy. If that means staying. Go ahead. But if that means leaving then this may just be one of those growing up and moving on moments in your life.”

“Thanks Jim I really appreciate your advice”

“No problem, kid. Now how about I help you go over these articles so you can head home.”

“That would be absolutely terrific”

\----------------------------------

Laura finishes all of her work pretty early and decides to visit Carmilla at her work. Typically Laura would just drive over to Carmilla’s apartment but she knows one of the usual after school program teachers asked Carmilla to cover her today so Laura decides to drive over to the school to see her as well as bring Carmilla a coffee. She knows how shitty the coffee at the school is and Carmilla will really appreciate the extra caffeine while staying with the kids for a couple of extra hours today. Laura also really loves getting to see her girlfriend work around the kids at the school. Carmilla typically refers to them as little monsters but Laura knows how much Carmilla enjoys working at the elementary school in a hilarious twist of events. Carmilla, the broody I hate everything and everyone chick, who is also surprisingly very good with children. Of course that is just one more thing added to the long list of why Laura is madly in love with her.

Laura parks in the visitor section of the parking lot outside Abigail Adams Elementary School, grabs the two cups of coffee, and begins to walk inside. Betty, Laura’s old roommate from Silas works at the front desk of the school and buzzes her into the building. Laura begins to walk towards Carmilla’s classroom and stops when she is right outside the door. She peers through the small window and notices Carmilla is in the back of the room laughing while a younger girl she recognizes to be Julia tries to put paint onto Carmilla’s face. Laura grins at the sight of her girlfriend trying to fight off the small 6 year old child and wishes she had a hand free to try and take a picture. As Carmilla begins to calm down from laughing she recognizes a familiar face peering through her classroom window. Both of them make eye contact and smile to one another. Carmilla mouths to her girlfriend “one sec” before she tells the children she will be right back, to behave, and exits out the classroom.

“What are you doing here, cupcake? Carmilla says when she is finally standing in the hallway with her girlfriend. She is wearing a red and black flannel that has the sleeves rolled up to her elbows under an apron that is practically covered in an arrangement of numerous different color paints.

Laura smiles at her girlfriend and gives her a kiss on her cheek before handing over the cup of coffee she bought for her. “I just wanted to see you. And I thought you would appreciate some good coffee.”

“Well you’re not wrong on that.” she says before taking a long drink from the cup.

“I’m basically just being a wonderful girlfriend” Laura says while grinning at her girlfriend.

“Well, you are also not wrong on that either, buttercup”

Carmilla wraps her arms around Laura’s waist and Laura wraps her arms around her girlfriend’s neck. “I’ve missed you.” Carmilla says before placing a quick peck onto the shorter girl’s lips. Laura can’t stop smiling at the girl holding her and knows they should probably make some type of conversation so they don't start making out in the hallway instead. Laura actually would like Carmilla not to get fired at the job she loves so much.

“How was your day so far?” They move their faces to an appropriate distance. Well as appropriate as they can get while still holding one another.

“It was pretty good. Easter is in a few days so I tried to get the kids to draw something to get into the holiday spirit. Those little monsters however had a different idea and just went rogue on me.”

Laura chuckles while imagining Carmilla trying to explain what the assignment for the class is and then becoming frustrated when the kids would just end of drawing what they want.

“Well isn’t art all about freedom of expression, Ms. Karnstein?”

Carmilla grins at her girlfriend before responding. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. How was your day though, cupcake?”

Laura thinks back to her conversation with Jim and considers maybe bringing it up to Carmilla now. I mean she has waited far longer than she planned and maybe all she needs to do is bring it up and then after their dinner date with their friends tonight they could talk about it in more detail.

“Actually there is this one thing I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”

“What is it? Carmilla says staring curiously at the lighter haired woman.

“Ok so-”

Before Laura gets the chance to say anything remotely important a young girl from Carmilla’s class barges out of the door. The two women quickly separate from one another. “Um Ms. Karnstein, George spilled paint in Sam’s hair and now she won't stop crying.”

Carmilla looks at Laura and Laura waves her off, understanding that the kids need her right now. “It’s ok, go, we can finish this later. It’s no big deal.”

“Thanks, cupcake. I’ll see you later tonight for Xena’s birthday.”

Carmilla takes a hold of the younger girls hand and disappears inside her classroom. Laura is left alone in the hallway and sighs in frustration. “Its fine, we can just talk about this after dinner” Laura thinks to herself as she walks down the hallway and out of the school.

\-------------------------------------------

It’s the night of Danny’s birthday and the gang of friends decides to spend it at a Mexican restaurant downtown called Mezcal. Since so many of the gang have graduated and are focusing on jobs or graduate school they haven’t had many chances to hang out all together like they used too on so many occasions when they all attended Silas University. Danny was Laura’s freshman Lit TA and one of her very first friends when she arrived at Silas. They almost were a thing but it’s something no one ever brings up and neither likes to dwell on. Laura has been with Carmilla for 3 years and Danny has been dating Kirsch for about 2 years. Danny met Kirsch through Laura and Carmilla seeing as Kirsch has been Carmilla’s best friend since kindergarten. Eventually Perry and Lafontaine began to hangout more with Laura which turned into them hanging out with Danny and Carmilla. Very soon the six of them became their own gang of friends and even though they may bicker with each other or throw insults they all know at the end of the day they will always be there for one another.

“So Xena, how does it feel being 24? Soon I think we’re all gonna have to start planning your funeral” Carmilla says to Danny as they sit at the table waiting for the waiter to bring out their food.

“The only funeral we’re gonna need to plan is yours if you don’t stop calling me by ridiculous nicknames, Karnstein. We’re not in college anymore.”

“Well I mean one of us still is” Lafontaine jokingly says while bobbing their head in Laura’s direction.

“Shut up, Laf. You won’t be able to still say that in a few weeks.”

“I know our little baby’s growing up. We’re all really so proud.”

Everyone at the table begins to laugh and Laura’s face turns into a pout hoping it will deter her friends from making fun of her anymore. As usual Carmilla quickly comes to her rescue.

“Alright we’ll stop cupcake.” Her girlfriend says before kissing her on the cheek and putting her arm around her.

\----------------------------------------

“So Mr.Dudebro over here forces me to go to one of his Zeta parties back in our junior year and gets drunker than I’ve ever seen. Halfway through him telling some ridiculous story about something he just stops talking.”

Kirsch looks absolutely mortified sitting at the table across from Carmilla and next to his girlfriend Danny. He is trying to communicate through his eyes to make Carmilla stop telling the story or else he is going to straight up murder her. Carmilla just stares back at Kirsch smirking, knowing he isn’t actually going to do anything to her and continues the story.

“I look over to the direction he is looking and I see Clifford standing near the keg with a few of her summer society friends talking and laughing.”

“I swear to god Carmilla if you finish this-”

“Shut up babe. It’s my birthday and I want to hear it” Danny says to Kirsch.

“Anyway, before I was rudely interrupted. So Kirsch can’t stop looking at Xena, so I eventually tell him to go over there before he gets arrested for harassing the poor girl with his eyes.”

Danny is fully focused on the story Carmilla is telling. She remembers the party and the first time meeting Kirsch, who she actually hated for a long time before admitting any type of feelings towards him. But she is curious to hear this story from a different perspective.

“Kirsch thinks that by jumping off of the roof and into the pool is gonna make her fall for him- and I know I should have stopped him but a part of me actually really wanted to see it so I let him do it- and this idiot gets to the top of the roof ready to proclaim his love when he realizes he’s afraid of heights!” Carmilla begins to laugh too hard to finish the story and needs to take a minute to catch her breath.

“So imagine this big fraternity dude who’s over six feet tall frozen in fear on top of the roof looking like he’s about to cry. It takes 3 of his zeta bros to help him down and when he’s finally on the ground Danny walks over to him and says ‘You know, next time you want to pull a dumb frat move at a party at least have the balls to follow through’ before she laughs and walks off.”

The whole table begins to laugh out loud and Danny eventually catches her breath long enough to say “Aw babe. If I had know you were gonna do that for me I wouldn’t have been so rude about it.”

“You probably still would have” Carmilla chimes in and Danny agrees with a small chuckle before she wraps her arms around her boyfriends neck and kisses him while Kirsch tries to hide his humiliation behind his hands.

“Alright I officially have to go to the bathroom before I pee my pants. I’ll be back” Laura says as she pushes her chair back and walks away from their table towards the back of the restaurant.

“I’m surprised you’re not following her in there Ms. I can’t keep it in my pants for longer than a few hours” Lafontaine teasingly says to Carmilla.

“You know I’m appalled you would say something like that Lafontaine.” Carmilla responds with a serious face.

Lafontaine thinks they may have actually offended Carmilla for a minute until she says with a smirk on her face “You should know we’ve done it in there already. Twice.”

Lafontaine burst into a fit of laughter while Perry looks absolutely distraught. Danny is making gagging sounds and Kirsch goes to fist bump Carmilla.

“Well I hope that aspect of your relationship won’t become a problem if Laura decides to move to Boston.” Perry says and the minute it comes out of her mouth Lafontaine shoots her a panicked looked. The table goes awkwardly silent and Carmilla can tell something’s up by the faces the ginger twins are sharing. They never were good at telling lies. And right now Perry is trying to backtrack.

“What do you mean if Laura moves to Boston? Where did that come from?” Carmilla asks and no one at the table responds and instead they fall into a heavy silence.

“You guys won’t believe what I just saw on my way back here- whoa, why does it feel like someone just died” Laura says while sitting back down at the table finally returned from the bathroom.

“Are you thinking of moving to Boston” Carmilla quickly says to Laura turning her head so their eyes meet.

“What?! Where did you hear that?! Who brought up Boston??”

“Don’t avoid the question, Laura. What’s going on with Boston? Why are you even thinking about Boston?”

Laura hesitates for a moment before responding to her girlfriend. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this but I haven’t had a chance. I may have been offered a job after graduation from the Boston globe” Laura finally tells her girlfriend but in her softest voice.

Carmilla’s mind is racing with a thousand thoughts a second. She has so many questions and is so confused as well as incredibly pissed off. Not only has her girlfriend kept something as big as this from her she had to find it out from the ginger twins. All Carmilla wants right now is to leave the restaurant and go home. Carmilla searches for cash in her wallet and drops it on the table. “Here that should cover me and Laura’s meals plus tip.” Carmilla stands and begins to put on her leather jacket.

“Where are you going?” Laura asks her girlfriend while standing from the table.

“I’m not in the mood to stay anymore. C’mon I’ll drive you back to your dorm.” Carmilla responds but avoids having to look at Laura and instead focuses her attention on the ground.

“I hope you had a good birthday, Danny. I’ll see you guys later.” and with that Carmilla walks out of the restaurant.

Laura stands at the table for a few moments dumbfounded at how the events just unraveled. Everything seemed to have gone from 0-100. She thinks of how she really needs to fix this situation with Carmilla. She grabs her sweater, along with her purse, bids goodbye to her friends, and exits the restaurant with a heavy feeling coming from inside her chest.

\--------------------------------

On the entire drive back to Silas from the restaurant Carmilla and Laura didn’t speak to each other. Laura had so much to say but she didn’t know where to start and she could tell from the way Carmilla was gripping the steering wheel she was definitely mad. Eventually, Carmilla pulled into the parking lot that is right outside Laura’s residence hall and shut the car off. They stayed sitting in the car in silence for a few more minutes until Laura finally spoke.

“I’m really sorry, Carm. I swear I was going to tell you about this.”

Laura unbuckled her seat belt and turned her body so she was leaning against the door and facing her girlfriend. Carmilla didn’t look at Laura and instead kept looking out the windshield in front of her.

“Please say something.”

Carmilla finally speaks and Laura could tell she is trying to keep her voice steady. “I don’t know what to say. I’m just confused and honestly hurt.”

“I haven’t decided to move to Boston, Carm. It’s just an option.”

“An option you’re seriously thinking about though, right?”

“I mean… yeah. The Boston Globe would be an amazing opportunity and I would be closer to my dad.”

“But what does that mean for us?” Carmilla finally looks at her girlfriend for the first time since they left the restaurant. There is a hint of sadness in her eyes and it almost breaks Laura.

“I don’t know” Laura finally says in her softest voice while looking down at her lap where she's playing with her hair elastic. “You could always come with me, Carm. Or we could do long distance. I’m not saying I’m definitely moving but there are options for us.” Laura reaches over and places her hand on top of Carmilla's. “I love you. I don’t want to lose you.”

“I love you too, cupcake. But I can't just leave Philly. I have my job here and all my contacts and I’m leasing an apartment with Kirsch. It’s not so simple for me to just up and leave.”

“Well lots of couples do long distance nowadays. It’s like a sure fire way to become famous on the internet.” Laura tries to joke in an attempt to lessen the heavy and seriousness of the conversation.

Carmilla’s face draws into a half smile before she says “I don’t think we’re the type of people to do long distance, sweetheart. I can barely go a couple of days without seeing you. It’ll be too hard.”

Laura wants to fight Carmilla on that. She wants to argue that if they loved each other enough distance wouldn't matter. But deep down she understands what Carmilla is saying. Their relationship is far too physical for them to be away from each other for long periods of time. It doesn't even necessary go back to them being able to have sex. It’s about being able to have a shoulder to cry on or just the immediate comfort their presence give one another. When either is upset or sad they have always been able to go to each other and Laura isn't sure if they’ll relationship could last by not having those moments of being there for one another and comforting each other. Laura and Carmilla’s relationship relies heavily on the ability of being close to each other.

“Well like I said this is just an option. They gave me a few weeks to decide.”

“Ok.” Carmilla says and Laura can tell from her voice that she is hurt and a little fearful.

Laura looks at Carmilla and wishes she could make her girlfriend feel better. She tells her the only thing she knows will at least make her smile a little “I love you, Carmilla. More than anything.”

“I love you too, cupcake.”

They lean towards one another and their lips meet. This kiss is unlike any they have ever shared before. Instead of passion and promise it feels like uncertainty and fear. Laura leans in to give Carmilla one more kiss trying to communicate the love she has for her girlfriend before she bids her good night and exits the car. Laura gives Carmilla a small wave before she watches her car disappear into the distance. It’s at this moment while standing outside in the cold night air that Laura understands one thing. She isn’t going to be able to have Carmilla and Boston.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. As always i'm open to any and all comments. Sorry for any grammar mistakes or typos. I've proof read but will be doing it again sometime soon. 
> 
> Let me know if you guys think Laura will stay or leave?
> 
> You can follow me on tumblr at welcomefellowmisfits.tumblr.com


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Movie night doesn't go quite how Laura thought it would.

**Laura (12:01pm)** : _are we still hanging out tonight?_

 **Carm (12:20pm)** : _yeah, when do you want me to pick you up?_

 **Laura (12:25pm)** : _it’s ok. I’ll just drive to your place. 7?_

 **Carm (12:38pm)** : _ok I’ll see you then._

 **Laura (12:40pm)** : _I love you..._

 **Carm (12:43pm)** : _love you too_

\------------------------------------------------

Since their sort of fight on Tuesday Laura and Carmilla haven’t seen each other at all. They have still been talking on the phone every night before bed like they always have for the past 3 years and they send each other a few text messages a day, but Laura could still feel the elephant in the room. When they have talked it’s been much shorter than usual and neither has brought up Boston at all. This has been very hard on Laura’s part seeing as how big of a diehard Celtics fan she is and how well their season is going. But Laura can’t talk about the same stuff with her girlfriend anymore because neither has tried to figure out the next step in their relationship. They’re not in a fight, but they’re in a something. A standstill almost? Whatever it is Laura hates it. She can’t really figure out her relationship with her girlfriend though when she still hasn’t decided whether or not she is going to accept the position at the Boston Globe. Laura thought her last month of college would be somewhat confusing but she never quite expected this. Laura is laying on her bed in her dorm room trying to figure something out when her phone rings. She looks at the caller ID and answers the phone immediately.

“Hey Dad.” Laura says as she sits up on her bed so her back is leaning against the wall and her feet dangle off the side.

“How’s my little girl doing? Did you catch the game last night? I know I always say this but the Celtics trading Garnett, Pierce, and Rondo a few years back was honestly an amazing decision for the franchise.”

Laura giggles after hearing the same rant her father gives anytime the Celtics win a game. “Yes I know, dad. But everything has been ok, I guess.”

“You guess? C’mon sport you’re getting ready to graduate in a month you must been feeling something?”

“I’m feeling something all right.” Laura can’t seem to hide her sadness from her father and it is something he definitely picks up on.

“Alright tell me what it is. And don’t lie and say it’s nothing. A father knows when his little girl is upset, even if she is 300 miles away.”

Laura gives a small giggle but doesn’t say anything.

“Did something happen with Carmilla? I mean I love the girl and all but if she did something to you I will not have a problem speaking to her about it.” Laura can tell her dad is trying to put on his macho disguise but she knows how much it kills him to confront anybody, unless of course it was sports related.

“No, she didn’t do anything. It’s me. I did something. Well sort of.”

“Ok, well you’re going to need to be a little more descriptive there munchkin.”

“Ok, so it all started last week when I was brushing my teeth and my phone rang, so I picked it up and it was the Boston Globe offering me a position there after graduation. They gave me a few weeks to decide because I didn’t know what to say, I mean I still don’t what to say which is exactly my problem. Anyway, I told Laf about it who must have told Perry, who then let it spill to Carmilla at dinner a few days ago, and now we’re in this fight/non-fight thing, and I wish I never sent my stupid resume to that wonderful newspaper.” Laura is breathing pretty heavy by the time she finishes rambling. Never leaving anytime to breathe when she was talking as she just let all of the worlds fall right out of her mouth. 

“I just don’t know what to do, dad.” Laura’s voice breaks at the end and tears start to fill her eyes. A few make their way down her cheek but she quickly goes to wipe them away.

“Sport, listen. You are a smart and strong young lady. I am so proud of the person you have grown up to be. Every day you remind me more and more like your mother. I mean only you could send in a resume on a whim to one of the most amazing newspaper companies in the country and actually get a job offer. That is something to be proud of, not something to regret, you hear me?”

Laura nods her head and upon remembering that she is on the phone and her father can’t actually see her reaction she quickly says yea I hear you before letting her father finish.

“Now I know how much you love Carmilla. I love her a lot too. But let me ask you this; is she worth letting go of a lifelong dream? I mean I remember when you were growing up all you talked about was going to work at the same place your mother did.” Laura stopped crying for awhile but when her father brought up her mother tears began to fill her eyes again.

“I know I’m not very good at this stuff but I just want you to really think about your choices here. I know the love you and Carmilla share is true and real but is it enough for you not to resent her if you choose to stay?”

Laura finally speaks for the first time in what feels like forever. She wipes some tears away and sniffles. “I would never want to end up resenting Carmilla. I love her too much. I’m just afraid that I’m either going to end up hurting her or end up hurting me.”

After a long pause Laura adds. “I just don’t know if I can see us having a happy ending right now, if I’m being honest, Dad.”

“You know, munchkin, it’s ok to be selfish sometimes. It’s ok to choose your own happiness. You just have to make sure it’s the right decision for you.”

“It’s just Carmilla makes me happy too. I just don’t want to end up like one of those girls who sacrifice their future for a girlfriend.”

“Well I have faith that you’ll make the right decision. How about you visit next weekend? I’ll buy you a plane ticket. You won’t have to worry about anything. Maybe being home will help.”

Laura contemplates the offer for a few seconds before deciding. “Actually, that sounds really nice. I’d love to come home.”

“Beautiful! The Celtics are playing the Knicks that Saturday and you know how much I love facing New York teams.”

“Yeah, well let’s not try to start any fights this time.” Laura jokingly tells her father.

“I’m sorry young lady but I seem to recall a little someone getting us kicked out of the Garden last time for dumping their beer all over a man.”

“Hey! For one it was just a Lakers fan and he wouldn’t stop talking crap saying Kobe was a much better player than Bird, which is just downright rude and untrue.” There’s spunk resonating from Laura’s voice and her father smiles on the other line, happy that his daughter finally cheered up a bit.

“Alright alright. I’ll see you next week, sport. I love you. Take care.”

“Love you too, Dad. Bye”

Laura hangs up her phone and goes back to lying down on her bed. She lets out a long sigh trying to organize all the thoughts that seem to keep swimming around in her head.

\-------------------------------------------------

Since the beginning of their friendship before they started dating every Friday night Laura and Carmilla have stayed in, ordered take-out, and watched movies together. They alternate each week taking turns picking which movie they would watch that night. Carmilla is an avid fan of b-horror films which Laura should probably be thankful for. Crappy horror movies sure are better to watch than actual horror movies. Thankfully, it was Laura’s turn to pick out the movie this week, and like always she chose a classic rom-com: The Prince and Me. Laura loved these nights where she could just relax and cuddle with her girlfriend but since their sort of fight on Tuesday things have been a little tense between them. Laura decides it’s probably for the best to just not say anything about Boston for now. They deserve to have a happy night together.

Around seven Laura drives to Carmilla’s apartment. Her girlfriend doesn’t live far from the campus. The drive usual ends up only taking at most fifteen minutes. Carmilla and Kirsch got the apartment together after graduating from Silas last year. It was perfect seeing as Carmilla got a job at the local elementary school which was only about fifteen minutes away from their place and Kirsch received a fantastic internship at Dollar Financial Group.

Laura parked across the street from her girlfriend’s apartment building and behind Carmilla’s black 2002 Audi. When Laura got outside the building she pressed the “3B” button on the wall and was immediately buzzed into the building. She took the elevator up three floors, and when she got off, headed right towards her girlfriends apartment door. Kirsch and Carmilla’s place was rarely locked so Laura just turned the door knob and walked into the apartment.

Carmilla was in the kitchen placing two bags from the local Chinese restaurant down onto the table as Laura walked in. “I see I just missed you coming up.” Laura tells her girlfriend before walking over and placing a kiss on her cheek. “Hey sweetheart.” Once the bags were down on the table Carmilla turned to face her girlfriend and give her a proper kiss on the lips. Carmilla’s affection immediately brought a smile to Laura’s face and she completely forgot about any weird tension or fighting that may have been going on throughout the week.

“So what cheesy hetero-normative movie are you going to make me suffer through this week, cupcake?” Carmilla laughs and Laura gives her a playful shove to her shoulder.

“Don’t be rude. This one is a classic and has a fabulous feminist role model as one of the main characters. I like to think this movie helped shape me into the woman I am today.”

“Alright, whatever. What is it called?”

“The Prince and Me!” Laura squeals as she pulls out the movie from her purse that is slung around her around.

“Is that the one with Julie Andrews?”

“No that’s the Princess Diaries, completely different, however just as amazing and inspiring in terms of feminist role models and- wait how do you know that movie?” A sly smirk begins to make its way onto Laura’s face.

Carmilla sensing a trap decides to immediately fold not wanting to risk having to admit to seeing, and possibly enjoying that movie once, or twice.

“Wow we better get to eating this food before it gets cold. Or else you’ll owe me $30 bucks, creampuff.”

\---------------------------------------------  
_Eddie, this has all been extraordinary. A real life fairy tale. But I can't do it anymore._  
_What? What are you saying?  
_ _I'm saying I can't stay._

Laura tenses against her girlfriend as they’re cuddling on the couch in the living room. The lights are off and a scene from The Prince and Me is playing on the TV screen in front of them. Laura feel’s completely awkward and stupid that she forgot about this scene in the movie because right now it is far too relatable; the main character is breaking up with her boyfriend so she can fulfill her dreams. Laura has her back pressed against Carmilla’s front. Carmilla was absentmindedly caressing her girlfriends shoulder before the scene began but suddenly stopped. Laura could feel her girlfriend tense and squirm under her. They both know the hidden message the scene represents to them and all Laura can think about is how to get out of this situation.

Laura turns her head and looks up at Carmilla. Carmilla gives her a small sad smile and she mirrors one right back. Neither says anything to each other. The room feels much heavier and the couple just stares into each other’s eyes, trying to find something in the other, trying to communicate something. Laura reaches her hand up and cups her girlfriend’s cheek as she goes in for a kiss. Carmilla meets her halfway and their lips collide with much force and passion. Sometimes it’s easier to communicate how you feel through actions instead of words. Their mouths move against each other quickly and Laura moves her body so she is straddling the dark haired woman. Carmilla rest her arms on her girlfriends waste while Laura has hers tangled in the others hair. Laura breaks their kiss to breathe but Carmilla uses this time to move open mouth kisses on Laura’s jaw and down to her neck. She’s in the middle of leaving what will be a very obvious hickey when she hears a wait stop coming from her girlfriend’s mouth. The women break apart from one another breathing heavily, each trying to catch their breath. Carmilla looks up at her girlfriend and can see tears beginning to fill her eyes.

“Hey, hey, don’t cry love, please don’t cry.” Carmilla softly says as she cups her girlfriends face with both of her hands.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s just my mind won’t shut off.”

“Come here.” Carmilla pulls Laura into a tight hug and they both stay that way for a few minutes. No one speaks for awhile. Laura has her chin resting on Carmilla’s shoulder when she whispers just loud enough for her girlfriend to barely hear “I don’t want to lose you.”

Carmilla knows the reason behind her girlfriend’s sudden tears that stopped them while making out. It’s the same reason for all the tension between them this past week. It’s the reason that scene in the movie made them so uncomfortable. It’s the same reason Carmilla feels like she’s constantly been struggling to breathe since Tuesday as if she may be drowning. She knows exactly what the the reason is but wasn’t sure if they were going to actually discuss it. She should have known better seeing as her girlfriend always wants to talk things out. Especially things Carmilla would rather avoid all together. But deep down Carmilla knows this is too big to be avoided.

“Hey look at me.” The girls pull back from one another and Carmilla can still see a few tears in her girlfriend's eyes. “You could never lose me. I love you too much.”

“But I will if I decide to move to Boston.” Laura tries to keep her voice steady and firm.

Carmilla doesn’t say anything. She’s trying to find the right words to express how she feels about the situation when Laura adds. “And you don’t want to leave with me.”

“Laura, it’s not that I don’t want to. I can’t. I told you this. I’ve already made commitments here in Philly.”

“But we can do long-distance I mean I know it’s not ideal but we can make it work.” Laura can hear the desperation falling out of her mouth and mentally kicks herself for getting this way.

“And what if it doesn’t work? Huh? What if long distance ruins our relationship before we get a chance to reunite? I don’t want any part us to end up hating the other. I’d rather let you go than lose you.”

“But you don’t know that’ll happen.”

“And you don’t know that it won’t. I don’t want to risk it. I won’t risk it. Besides Kirsch you’re my best friend, cupcake. I can’t imagine not having you in my life at all.”

“But you don’t even want to try?”

“I make no risk when it comes to our relationship, sweetheart. Laura I love you so much the thought of you leaving breaks me, I’m not going to lie. But the thought of us growing apart and hating one another hurts far more.”

“I just-” Laura sighs. She’s frustrated and exhausted from the stress this situation has had on her for the past 2 weeks. “You’re right.”

They sit in the same positions for a few more minutes in silence just staring at each other. Carmilla pulls Laura’s hair out of her face and tucks it behind her ear. Laura has both of her hands cupping the other woman’s face and uses her thumbs to stroke her cheeks.

“When do you have to decide?” Carmilla finally speaks up.

“Soon. Before graduation.” After a long pause she adds. “I’m sorry for ruining everything.”

“Hey, don’t be sorry for wanting to follow a dream of yours. Whatever you decide I’ll support, no matter what.” Carmilla leans up and places a soft kiss to her girlfriend’s cheek. “C’mon. Let’s go to bed.”

\------------------------------------------------

That night while Laura holds Carmilla in her arms she thinks over the conversation they had in her living room. She never really expected they would get themselves into a situation like this. Carmilla doesn’t want to be that person who forces their partner to give up their dreams. But right now all Carmilla wants to do is be selfish. She wants Laura to stay with her. She wants to marry this woman one day. She knows she told Laura that she would support her but right now she isn’t sure if she is going to be able to follow through with that promise. Laura has been the one good thing in her entire crappy 23 years of life. Carmilla hopes as hard as she can that Laura loves her enough to stay. She hopes that she is enough to make her girlfriend stay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Do you guys think Laura is going to leave or stay? Let me know!
> 
> follow me on tumblr at welcomefellowmisfits.tumblr.com


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are some big news and big decisions.

Since their conversation 2 weeks ago Carmilla and Laura have not talked about the job offer from the Boston Globe that Laura received. They both kind of pushed the problem to the back of their minds in a hopeless attempt at avoiding the problem long enough that it may just suddenly disappear. Laura and Carmilla were able to fall back into their old routine and were honestly really happy together. Their movie night last Friday went so much smoother than the one before it and there seems to be a lot less awkwardness between them. There is still some awkwardness between them but that only comes when people ask questions about Laura’s future plans after graduation. So like any senior in college, Laura does her best to avoid those types of questions, especially when she’s around her girlfriend. This past weekend Laura flew back home to visit her father and Laura felt really good to be back home but was also excited to finally go back to Philadelphia and see Carmilla.

“All right, pumpkin, here we are.” Her father says as he pulls the car to a stop outside the airports entrance.

“Thanks dad.” She tells her father as she leans over and gives her father a hug.

“So I know when we talked last night you seemed sure about your decision but I just wanted to check in and see where your mind was at today?”

Laura felt a lot better about her situation after visiting her father and felt sure in her final decision. She was excited and nervous to tell Carmilla but was sure that this wasn’t something that could break them up. All they needed was to sit down like mature adults so Laura can explain everything she’s feeling.

“Yeah I’m still sure about it, dad.” She says, turning her head towards her father and smiling up at him.

Laura’s father claps his hands together and rubs them quickly before saying “Well that’s it then. I’m happy for you, Laura. And I know your mother would be too.”

Laura reaches over to hug her father one more time before unbuckling her seatbelt, gathering her bags, and exiting the car. “Love you, dad. Bye!” She says quickly through the open window before turning and walking towards the entrance doors of the airport.

“I love you too, kiddo!” Her father yells to her before starting the car and driving away.

As she is walking towards her planes boarding station Laura pulls out her phone to send her girlfriend a quick text.

 **Laura (2:03)** : _Hey babe! Boarding my plane now. Can’t wait to see you- xoxo_

 **Carmilla (2:04)** : _Can’t wait. See you at the airport. I love you._

Laura smiles to herself after reading the text and quickly puts her phone in the pocket. She grabs a hold of her bags tighter and begins to rush towards the plane, filled with all types of excitement.

\----------------------------------------

Carmilla is waiting near Laura’s exit holding a bouquet of flowers. This all feels too much like a cliché in one of those romantic comedies but Carmilla is too happy to see Laura again to really care. Plus, she knows how much Laura loves these types of things and whatever Laura loves Carmilla does too. Carmilla is tapping her foot standing in the middle of a group of people all waiting for someone they know to exit the plane as well. Finally, she see’s people starting to come out and immediately starts to scan for her little ball of energy. It doesn’t take long for her eyes to land on the smaller girls head and she can see that the brunet is in just as much of a rush.

“Laura!”

The shorter girls head pops up in the direction in which her name came from and is met with the sight of her beautiful girlfriend. She smiles big and begins to speed walk her way over. When they finally reach each other Laura drops all her bags to the floor before jumping on top of Carmilla and submerging her in a deep hug.

“Hey there, cupcake.” Carmilla says as she squeezes her arms tighter around her girlfriend.

They break apart and Laura leans in to give her girlfriend a kiss on the lips. “I’ve missed you.” she says before giving her girlfriend another kiss. Carmilla smiles in between the quick kisses her girlfriend is giving her. “I’ve miss you too, sweetheart. C’mon I’m parked outside illegally and really don’t want to get a ticket.”

“Carm!” Laura exclaims as she separates herself from Carmilla and gives her a small slap on the shoulder. They both share a small laugh before Carmilla grabs her girlfriend’s bags along with her hand and leads them out of the airport.

When they finally reach Carmilla’s car she throws Laura’s bags in the backseat before getting into the car. Laura settles herself in the passenger seat and before Carmilla has a chance to start the car she jumps across the console and grabs her girlfriends face into a deep kiss. Carmilla is thrown off for a second by her girlfriend’s actions before she recuperates the intensity of the kiss. Laura’s hands move to tangle themselves in her girlfriend's hair while Carmilla hands move to hold onto Laura’s sides. Carmilla breaks apart from the kiss and Laura takes this opportunity to starting kissing her neck. “You really have missed me, huh, cupcake?” She says trying to keep her voice steady but that proves to be a bit difficult when her girlfriend is kissing her neck like that. Laura pulls herself away from Carmilla’s neck to kiss her lips instead. “You have no idea” she says after she gives herself some distance from her girlfriend to look her in eyes. They smile at each other for a few seconds. “Well let’s get you back to campus before I do another illegal thing at this airport.” Laura smirks at her girlfriend before sitting back into her seat and buckling her seatbelt.

\----------------------------------------------------

When they finally arrive at Laura’s dorm room Carmilla moves immediately to lay down on her girlfriend's bed while Laura makes her way towards the bathroom.

“I’m gonna shower real quick. Plane rides always make me feel gross.”

“I can join you if you want?” Carmilla tells her while sporting one of her infamous grins.

“How about you order some pizza instead?” Laura responds as she enters the bathroom. She can hear a groan come from her girlfriend and knows that is not the response she was hoping for. “I’ll make it worth your while.” She yells before shutting the bathroom door. Carmilla rolls her eyes quickly before rolling off the bed to retrieve her phone to order some pizza. When she reaches into her jackets front pocket to retrieve her phone she realizes it’s dead so she moves to find Laura’s phone to order pizza off of it instead.

After she finishes ordering some pizza she goes back to lay down on her girlfriend's bed and picks up a book to read that she’s left here one of the times she has spent the night. Several minutes pass before Carmilla hears Laura’s phone start to ring and assuming it’s the pizza guy picks it up without looking at the caller ID.

“Hello?”

“Yes, is this Laura Hollis?” the man on the other end of the phone ask.

“No, but this is her phone. She’s a little busy right now. Can I take a message?” Carmilla responds a little annoyed and trying to end this conversation as quickly as possible.

“Yes please. Just tell her that Dave Johnson called we’re all really excited for her to come work at the Boston Globe following her graduation from Silas. As well as if she could give us a call sometime this week.”

Carmilla’s heart falls to her stomach and her throat becomes very dry. She can’t believe what she just heard. She can’t believe this is really happening and that Laura would not tell her something this big. Yeah this is Laura’s life but what she does affects Carmilla’s life as well that’s what being in a relation entails. Carmilla is angry, like really angry, and she can feel tears begin to fill her eyes.

“Hello? Anyone still there?” Carmilla ends the call and drops the phone on the bed before sitting down herself. Carmilla is staring at the floor unsure of what to think or say when Laura finally steps out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel.

“Was that the pizza guy?” she ask her girlfriend while searching for some clean clothes to put on. Carmilla doesn’t respond which makes Laura turn around to face her with a confused look. “Everything ok, Carm?” Carmilla is still sitting on the bed staring at the floor at a loss for words.

“Ok you’re starting to freak me out. Who called?”

Carmilla takes a few breath before she says in a shaking voice “It was Dave Johnson. Some dude from the Boston Globe.”

“Oh.” is all Laura can really say and for the first time since she exited the bathroom Carmilla picks up her head and stares at Laura.

“Oh? That’s it? That’s all you have to say?” Carmilla is staring at Laura intensely now and Laura is the one who moves her eye sight towards the floor.

“Well, I mean, what did he say?”

“He said how happy he was for you to start working at that goddam newspaper once you graduate.” Carmilla can feel the tears wanting to roll down the face but does her best to hold them in.

“Carm, listen, I was going to tell you, I swear.” Laura moves towards Carmilla and reaches out to touch her, but Carmilla sees this and stands abruptly from the bed, attempting to give some space between her and Laura.

“Really? When? Tonight? Or on your way boarding a plane back to Boston?!”

“Tonight! I swear, Carm! This weekend when I visited my dad the people at the Boston Globe wanted to see me in person to talk. And after talking with them and visiting the newspaper I knew that’s where I really wanted to work.” Laura’s voice sounds desperate but she does her best to keep it steady. “But just because I’m moving to Boston doesn’t mean we have to break up. We can make this work I know it and maybe if you visited eventually you’ll want to move up there with me. Lots of people do long distance for years and they end up ok.”

Carmilla is staring at the girl in front of her trying to comprehend everything that is being said right now. She thinks back to all the loss she has experienced in her life between losing her parents and the shipwreck that was her relationship with Ell. She’s experienced too many crappy things in her life and refuses to have ruin the one good thing that’s ever happened to her on the chance that they might get their happily ever after. Carmilla finally looks up at Laura and can see she’s fighting back her own tears. Carmilla musters up all the courage she can before speaking.

“I’m sorry, Laura. I can’t. I can’t do that.” she says in her softest voice.

Laura’s heart begins to break at Carmilla’s words. “So what, you’re not even going to try?!” She says and she can feel her cheeks begin to red from anger and hurt.

“You know I’m not a betting woman.” Carmilla says with a shrug trying to make the situation less heartbreaking than it has to be.

“No.” Laura says as she begins to cry and shakes her head. She repeats the word over and over like a mantra hoping that if she says it enough Carmilla will stay with her. Carmilla walks over to Laura and slowly reaches her arms out to hug her. When Laura doesn’t step away she wraps her arms around the shorter girl and lets her head fall to her shoulder. Laura wraps her arms around Carmilla’s torso and fits her hands into a ball in Carmilla’s shirt. Carmilla let's Laura cry on her shoulder for a few moments before she leans away to wipe some tears from Laura’s face. They lean their foreheads against one another and Laura finally stops to cry.

“Please don’t go, Carm. I love you. I love you so much.” Laura begs and looks into the other girl's eyes.

Carmilla kisses Laura’s forehead and then begins to step away. “I love you too, Laura. But right now our lives are just heading in different directions. I love you too much to hold you back, but I also need to do what’s right for me and my life.” Carmilla moves towards the bed to collect her jacket and then starts to walk towards the door. Before she leaves she turns around to look at Laura who is just standing in the middle of her room, again trying to fight back some tears. Carmilla thinks she should say something anything, even if it was just goodbye, but decides against it. She exits the rooms and shuts the door behind her. When Laura sees Carmilla finally leave she drops to her bed and begins to cry uncontrollably again. It takes a while before Laura is finally able to get up and put some pajamas on. She is only able to finally fall asleep after crying out all her tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thank you for reading! Sorry it took awhile to update. Also sorry for the...yeah. But there's one more chapter left so fingers crossed on how it ends. 
> 
> If you want you can follow me on tumblr at welcomefellowmisfits.com


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Laura's graduation day but she's finding it hard to be excited.

It’s Laura’s graduation day but she is finding it difficult to be happy today. She’s happy to an extent. She’s officially done with school which means no more late nights that lead to early mornings. No more having to deal with rude professors and writing papers. She’s finally going to be able to focus on the career she has wanted ever since she was a little girl. And she feels happy when she thinks of those things. But despite all that there is still an empty feeling inside her. A feeling that leaves her not one hundred percent happy. It’s a feeling that hasn’t went away since Carmilla broke up with her two weeks ago. For the past week and a half Laura has done everything she could to get Carmilla to talk to her. But with no luck. Carmilla doesn’t respond to any of her text messages or phone calls. Whenever Laura stops by her apartment Kirsch just says that she isn’t home despite the fact that Laura can see her car parked outside.

She’s standing in her room looking at herself in the mirror. She’s wearing a cute light blue dress that has a slim brown belt around her waist. Perry helped pick it out for her when they went shopping a few days ago. Laura didn’t really care what to buy and when Perry pulled it from the rack Laura decided it’ll do for the occasion. There’s a loud knocking on her dorm room door that wakes her from her thoughts back to reality. She quickly grabs her cap and gown from her bed and goes to answer the door. She knows it's her father ready to drive her to the stadium where her graduation is going to be held. When she opens the door she’s met with the sight of father.

“Ready to go, pumpkin?” He says beaming with pride at her.

“Yup.” is all she can manage to respond. She does her best to give him a genuine smile. If she can’t be truly happy for herself she decides to try her best to be happy for her dad.

“Alright let’s hurry and get to the car. I’m parked illegally outside and would really like to not have a ticket.”

Laura’s father begins to walk towards the elevator and she follows along behind him. Laura tries not to think too much on what her father just said. He and Carmilla were always alike in many ways (illegally parking was one of them.) It’s one of the things she loves so much about her. But Laura tries to push Carmilla away from her thoughts because despite the fact she has spent every night for the past 2 weeks crying, she doesn’t trust herself enough to not cry again if she thinks about the woman she lost for too long.

She steps into the elevator with her father and he looks down at her smiling. She can see a certain amount of worry in his eyes as she stares at her though. He knows that Carmilla broke up with her and he understands how much it hurt. But thankfully he doesn’t bring it up.

“I really am proud of you, kiddo.” He says as he puts his arm around her shoulder and squeezes her into his side.

“Thanks, Dad” She says staring up at him and gives him what she feels is finally a true smile.

\--------------------------------

The chairperson of her class is giving their speech to all the graduating seniors and their family and friends in attendance. Laura does her best to focus on what they’re saying but she was never good at sitting down for long periods of time. She’s sitting down at her chair on stage that overlooks a green field where a few hundred people came to see her and her peers graduate. Laura scans the rows of people, unsure at first for what she’s looking for, but when her eyes land on the person standing in the back leaning against the tree her breath catches in her throat.

She isn’t sure it’s really her but after staring for another few minutes she knows for certain who it is. She’ll always be able to pick out that curly black hair and infamous smirk in a crowd. Everyone begins to cheer and when Laura finally brings her attention back to the chairperson of her class she finds that they have finally finished talking. The president of their college says a few more things before congratulating them one more time. Her classmates begin to stand and throw their caps in the air celebrating their four years of college at Silas. Laura joins in for a few moments and even hugs a few friends from her major that were sitting beside her. Despite how amazing this moment in time fells, all Laura wants is to get off the stage and find Carmilla. She works her way past the people and begins her search for the curly haired woman.

\--------------------------------

It isn’t hard for Laura to find Carmilla. She never moved from standing under the oak tree. Laura stands in front of her taking her presence in for the first time in two weeks. She doesn’t miss how beautiful she looks right now with the sun hitting her at the most perfect angle. Carmilla smiles shyly at her clearly not trying to be the first to break the silence. It’s Laura who is the one to finally say something.

“You came.”

“I did.”

“I wasn’t sure if you were going to come if I’m being completely honest.” Laura looks down at her feet avoiding Carmilla’s gaze.

“I wouldn’t miss your graduation for anything, cupcake.” Laura’s head picks up at Carmilla’s use of the nickname she’s heard so many times before. She closes the gap between them slowly and Carmilla doesn’t back away.

“I’ve really missed you, Carm.” She can feel tears begin to prick her eyes and does her very best to hold them in. It’s way too early in the conversation to start crying.

Laura looks at her more closely and from this distance is able to see bags from lack of sleep under her eyelids. Carmilla looks back at her before responding. “I’ve miss you a lot too, sweetheart.”

“You’ve been avoiding me. You didn’t answer my texts, or calls, or even when I stopped by you and Kirsch’s apartment.” Laura is blunt and doesn't hesitate to bring up exactly what she knows they should be talking about.

“It would have been too hard to see or talk to you.” Carmilla admits.

“But you’re here now.” Laura tells her and there’s a small amount of hope in her voice. Like Carmilla came to make up and they can finally get back together.

“You may not think this right now because of what happened between us last time we were together but I really do love you, Laura. Graduating is a big deal and whether or not we’re together doesn’t mean I’m going to miss this giant event in your life.”

Carmilla is looking at her and Laura knows what she’s saying is true. The urge to reach out and hold her hand is becoming unbearable but she does her best to stop herself.

“So you’re not here to get back together” and despite her best efforts Laura’s voice begins to crack.

Carmilla frowns slightly before reaching out to hug her. Laura lets her, and after finally being able to touch Carmilla after spending two horrible weeks without her, she begins to cry against her shoulder. Carmilla holds her tighter and Laura can feel a few teardrops hit her own shoulder. After a few moments they finally break apart and Carmilla brings her hands up to Laura’s face to wipe the tear streaks from her cheeks.

Carmilla looks down and see’s the necklace she bought for Laura for their anniversary just last month. She holds it in her hand and Laura brings her own hand up to cup Carmilla’s. Carmilla looks up at Laura and she smiles softly at her. “You know I mean every word on here. I’ll never love anyone as much as I love you.” Carmilla’s words bring a few tears back to Laura’s eyes but she does her best to keep them from rolling down.

“I’ll never love anyone more than you either, Carmilla.”

“I want you to be happy in Boston. I want you to kick ass at your job. I want you to spend all the time with your father. I want you to make new friends and reconnect with old ones. I want you to be happy, sweetheart. I really do.”

Laura isn’t able to stop herself anymore and leans forward to kiss Carmilla on the lips. It doesn’t last very long, no more than a few seconds. “I want you to be happy too, Carmilla.” she tells her once they break apart from their kiss. They smile softly at each other for a while before Carmilla looks over Laura’s shoulder and notices their group of friends and her father hanging around a couple feet away from them. Clearly waiting to congratulate Laura after she’s done talking.

“I think they’re waiting for you, cupcake.” She says pointing to the group standing behind Laura.

Laura turns around to see what Carmilla is pointing and then turns back to look at her. “Yeah, I guess they are.” They stare at each other for a few more moments before either one says anything.

“I guess this is goodbye.” Laura says, again being the first to break the silence.

“I guess it is.”

Laura pulls Carmilla into a tight hug. They stay there holding each other for a few minutes until Carmilla is the one to break away. She gives Laura one last kiss on her forehead.

“Take care, cupcake.” she says before turning around and making her way towards her car.

Laura stays standing beside the tree staring at the love of her life walk away from her for the second time. Her father and group of friends eventually make their way to Laura after seeing Carmilla walk away and it’s their presence that brings her attention back to them.

“We’re all so proud of you, Laura” says Perry as she brings Laura into a tight hug.

“Thanks” is all she’s able to manage to say. She watches Carmilla’s car drive off and does her best at stopping herself from crying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys thank you again for reading! I planned on finishing this in 5 parts but decided to add another one! I hope you enjoyed reading! Please, leave a comment letting me know what you think. You can also send me an ask on tumblr talking about it! I apologize for any typos, I'll try my best to reread it a couple more times to catch em. 
> 
> You can follow me at welcomefellowmisfits.tumblr.com


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla finally gets her shit together.

Since school has ended for the summer and Laura moved away to Boston, Carmilla’s schedule has opened up pretty drastically, to which she has filled by doing absolutely nothing. The breakup is taking its toll on her. Not that she thought it would be a breeze. But the person she would always go to that would make her feel better is Laura. There seems to be this huge empty space in her life that she doesn’t even know where to begin to fill. Carmilla is sprawled up on the couch in black sweatpants and a back tank top watching reruns of some pretty bad reality TV shows when she hears someone come through the front door. When she turns around from where she is sitting on the couch she notices Kirsch has walked in with Danny. She doesn’t say anything to them because right now she can’t really be trusted to say anything that isn’t just a lash out. Danny and Kirsch stand in the living room for what Carmilla decides is a weird amount of time. Typically they would just sneak by her and into Kirsch’s room quickly. She can hear them trying to whisper quietly behind her and before she has a chance to say something to them Danny quickly gives her boyfriend a kiss on the cheek before running into his room and leaving the roommates alone together in the living room. Carmilla turns around again to stare at Kirsch who is just standing by their kitchen counter looking slightly awkward and for some reason guilty. Carmilla begins to feel herself become annoyed by this situation. She decides to finally speak up.

“Did you want something, beefcake?”

Kirsch rocks back and forth on his heels and has his hands buried in the front pockets of his jeans. “Um, yeah dude actually there was. I mean if you aren’t busy or anything?” He nervously responds back.

“Clearly not. What do you want? I’m not leaving the couch just cause Xena wants to watch something on the bigger TV.”

“No, no, that’s not even it.” He quickly says to her. “Kind of funny you mentioned that though. It’s actually about moving, and me, and you, and Danny.”

Carmilla looks confused and slightly annoyed as she glares at her roommate. Kirsch takes this time to move towards the couch and sit down next to Carmilla. “Look bro, you know I love living with you. And we’ve basically known each other since diapers. But things are going pretty serious with Danny and we decided we want to move in with each other and ve it just be us.”

Carmilla doesn’t say anything right away. She moves to sit cross legged on the couch and just stares at Kirsch. He looks seriously nervous and he can't stop fiddling with his hands. She’s a little sad at the news but Kirsch has been her best friend since forever so of course she’s happy for him.

“That’s really cool for you guys, beefcake. I’m happy for you.”

Kirsch lets out the breathe he was holding since he stopped talking, and scratches the back of his neck. “Oh man dude. You don’t know how relieved that makes me.”

Carmilla gives him a small smile. “So when is everything happening?”

“We actually found this super awesome apartment a few blocks from here. We’re hoping to move in next month.” Kirsch can see the gears in Carmilla’s heading turning as she learns all this new information and how it’s clearly going to affect her. “But like don’t worry bro. I’ll still pay half the rent until you find someone to move in with.”

Carmilla stays quiet. She can’t seem to control her thoughts that are running a thousand times a minute. She thinks of how happy she is for Kirsch and Danny. She would rarely say it out loud but she loves them both and loves how happy they both make each other. But when she thinks of how her friends are taking a huge new step in their relationship she can't help but think of how the most perfect relationship she’ll ever be in ended. 

“It’s not too late, dude.” Kirsch says finally breaking the silence between the two.

“What are you talking about?” she says while giving Kirsch a confused look.

“Laura. It’s not too late to go be with her.”

Carmilla straightens her back and moves uncomfortably in her seat. She hasn’t talk about Laura to anyone since her graduation. She hasn’t talked with her either.

“We said our goodbyes. She’s better off in Boston and I’m better off here.”

“Bullshit.” Carmilla glares at Kirsch but he just holds his stare at her. “You’re scared.”

Carmilla begins to become angry. She can’t tell if she’s angry at Kirsch for calling her out. Angry at how easily he’s always been able to know how she truly feels. Or just angry at herself. Maybe it’s a combination of all three.

“I’ve known you since elementary school, Carmilla. And I know you went through shitty stuff. And I know how much you hate change. I also remember how wrecked you were when you risked change for Ell and it ended pretty bad.”

Carmilla can feel tears begin to prick her eyes while listening to him speak. A lot of feelings she typically keeps bottled up start to come out. She thinks back to how her parents died and she had to move to a new state, live in a new house, with a woman who barely gave her any type of love. She thought back to how she was going to run away with her old high school girlfriend Ell, but was only left waiting at the train station. Carmilla experienced many big changes throughout her life and hated every one of them. So yeah, maybe she was scared to go through another one.

Kirsch begins to start talking again which breaks Carmilla from her thoughts. “But I also remember us leaving home and coming to Silas. I remember us moving into our apartment together. I remember you accepting the teaching job at the school. I remember you with Laura. I remember seeing you the happiest you’ve ever been in your entire life.”

Kirsch pauses and thinks for a few seconds careful at choosing his words before finally finishing. “What I’m trying to say is I may not know a lot, but I know you, Carmilla. And I’ve seen you go through a lot of changes. Some that brought you Laura and others she helped you make which made you even happier. So don’t be afraid of another big change, dude. Cause if little Laura is involved then I know for sure everything is going to be ok.”

Carmilla can feel a few tears start to roll down her cheeks and she does her best to quickly wipe them around. Kirsch smiles at her and she can’t help but smile back. “She left though, Kirsch. I told her to go. I can’t just show up at her apartment in Boston asking for her to take me back.”

“Yes hell you can.” Danny says while standing in the doorway of Kirsch’s bedroom staring at the two sitting on the couch. Carmilla turns to look at her and then back to Kirsch who is now sporting the biggest smile on his face.

“Hell yeah, babe!” He says loudly.

Carmilla looks back forth between her two friends who currently are just smiling at her. She can see from their eyes a great amount of encouragement and support. Carmilla shoots up from couch. “Fuck it. I’m getting my girl back.” Kirsch stands from the couch as well and grabs Carmilla into a tight bear hug. “Now that’s what I’m talking about, dude!” He says before putting her back down on the ground. Danny walks over and slaps Carmilla lovingly on the back. “There you go, Karnstein. I knew you’d woman up eventually.”

“Alright, I’m going to need a ride to the airport and about 200 bucks.”

The group of three laugh and Kirsch and Danny nod in agreement to her request. “Alright little hottie. Go get changed and pack. We’ll wait for you in the car.”

\--------------------------------

On her way to the airport Carmilla called Lafontaine to get Laura’s new address. Lafontaine was pretty stoked about the entire thing and it only took about 1 second of explaining before Lafontaine handed over the information. Carmilla was able to book a nonstop flight from Philadelphia to Boston and the entire flight took less than 2 hours. On the entire car ride to the airport and on the entire flight to Boston Carmilla could not shake her nerves. She couldn’t remember a time ever being this nervous. When her flight finally landed she grabbed her duffle bag and ran to catch the first cab ride she could. She looked down at the address she wrote on a napkin she found in Kirsch’s car when she was talking to Lafontaine. She was able to find a cab driver in less than 9 minutes which was partly due to her scaring off anyone that even thought about getting close to one she spotted. She read off the address to the driver and sat back as he began to drive.

While she sat in the back seat she tried her best to calm her nerves. She thought back to the beginning of her and Laura’s relationship. She remembered the first time seeing her walk into their photography class. Laura down right annoyed her at first but she could never deny how beautiful she was. When they got paired for group projects and they learned more about each other the shorter one definitely grew on Carmilla. Their trip to Costa Rica with their class only solidified her growing feelings for Laura more and she knew that day by the waterfall she had fallen in love with the girl. And the beauty of it all was that Laura has fallen in love with Carmilla too. Carmilla always knew this was the woman she wanted to marry and share forever with. Now that she was done with being coward she couldn’t wait to see Laura again. She’d do anything to win her back.

Before she could even realize where she was the cab driver stopped the car and told her they arrived. Carmilla thanked the man and threw whichever money she had left in her pocket at him and told him to keep the change. Carmilla looked up at the brick apartment building and tried to take in her surroundings. With a deep breathe she began the walk towards the building and was lucky enough to get in without ringing the bell when someone else walked into the building as well. Carmilla got into the elevator and clicked the 4th floor button. When it finally arrived she stepped out of the elevator and began to walk towards Laura’s apartment door. She took in 3 big breaths before she knocked on the door. There was no answer right away and Carmilla was about to knock again when the front door swung open.

“One sec I just need to grab-” Laura’s words died in her mouth when her eyes finally landed on the person standing before her. Carmilla gave her a shy smile and Laura couldn't speak right now even if she wanted to.

“Expecting someone else, sweetheart.” Carmilla said to the brunette who currently was frozen in place in front of her.

“I- uh… What are you doing here, Carmilla?!” Laura was trying her best to wrap her mind around what was currently happening.

“Can I come in and explain?” Laura stepped aside to make room for Carmilla to get through and enter her apartment. Once inside Carmilla quickly looked around the apartment. It looked nice and everything seem to already be unpacked. Carmilla still had the duffle bag slung around her shoulder and when she finally was done observing the new place she turned around to face Laura. When she turned around she found that Laura was already staring at her and had the arms crossed in front of her chest.

“What are you doing here, Carmilla?” Laura repeated and Carmilla noticed she sounded more nervous than angry. Which was in itself a good sign.

“I came for you.” Carmilla said to her while holding the other girls stare. “I came here to be with you. If that’s something you still want.”

Laura kept her arms crossed and began to rock on her heels. She breathed in deeply once before saying anything. “I don’t know what to think or say right now. I don’t get it? What changed?”

Carmilla took a step forward towards Laura. Laura didn’t back away but Carmilla kept a good enough distance between them despite Laura not backing away from her.

“At your graduation I told you I wanted you to be happy. And you told me you wanted me to be happy too. I thought the life I had was what made me happy. And it did. But I realized it only made me happy because you were there with me. What I realized was that the last month without you has been the worst of my life, but the last 3 years with you have been the happiest in my life. As cheesy as it sounds I’m happiest when I’m with you. I’m sorry it took me losing you to realize this but I’d do anything for you to take me back, Laura. I love you.”

Carmilla could see tears begin to fill Laura’s eyes and she could tell the same in her own eyes. They both did their best to keep the tears from rolling down their faces.

“You’re serious about this, Carmilla? You want to live here, in Boston, with me?” Laura does her best to keep her voice steady.

“I’ll live anywhere as long as I’m with you, sweetheart.”

Laura lunges forward wrapping her arms around Carmilla’s neck and connects their lips together. Carmilla is pushed back slightly but immediately moves her hands to rest on Laura’s hips and kisses her back. Their kiss is everything Carmilla has missed in the past month. Carmilla can feel the electricity flowing between them again. They break apart from their kiss and rest their foreheads against each other’s.

“Does this mean you’ll have me back?” Carmilla ask Laura softly and does her best to stop herself from smiling.

Laura smiles big at her and all the effort Carmilla used to stop herself earlier goes out the window. She smiles just as big back at Laura.

“Of course I want you back, Carm. You don’t know how much I’ve missed you.”

“I think I may have an idea at how you felt.”

Laura chuckles quietly and shakes her head slightly before leaning in to give her girlfriend another kiss. “I love you, Carm.” She says when they break apart.

“I love you too, cupcake.” And even if she wanted nothing would be able to wipe the huge smile from Carmilla’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And you thought I would be so heartless to end it on a bad note! Thank you to everyone if you read this, left a kudo, or commented! I truly appreciate all the support! <3
> 
> I'm going to be writing a Resident Assistant AU so stay on the look out for that. Drop me an ask on tumblr if you want to talk about it. 
> 
> Thank you again for everything! Let me know your thoughts :)
> 
> If you want to follow me on tumblr: welcomefellowmisfits.tumblr.com


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